Football Game Preview: Gulf Breeze Dolphins vs. Pace Patriots

Gulf Breeze is 0-7 against Pace since March of 2019 but things could change on Thursday. The Gulf Breeze Dolphins are taking a road trip to square off against the Pace Patriots at 7:00 p.m. Gulf Breeze has given up an average of 35.6 points per game this season, so hopefully the team got some defensive drills in this week.

Gulf Breeze is headed into Thursday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their sixth straight game dating back to last season on Wednesday. They took a blow against Navarre, falling 46-7. One positive for the Dolphins, at least, is that this was the most points they've scored all season.

Meanwhile, Pace faced Choctawhatchee in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Wednesday. Pace fell 21-14 to Choctawhatchee. That makes it the first time this season the Patriots have let down their home crowd.

Gulf Breeze will need to focus on slowing down Amaya Pablo, one of several Pace players who made an impact when they last played. She rushed for 67 yards on only nine carries, and also threw for 135 yards on 20 of 35 attempts. That's the most rushing yards Pablo has posted since back in February of 2024.

Pace didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Berkley Lutz and Pablo.

Having lost for the first time this season, Pace fell to 6-1. As for Gulf Breeze, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.

Gulf Breeze was taken down by Pace 48-6 in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pablo, who threw for 253 yards and five touchdowns while completing 80% of her passes, and also rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Now that Gulf Breeze knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.